No Consensus for Action in Latest Talks on Iran

By Glenn Kessler
March 30, 2006
The Washington Post
Original Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/30/AR2006033000244.html

BERLIN, March 30 -- One day after the U.N. Security Council rapped Iran over its nuclear program, six major powers met here Thursday to discuss the next steps in convincing Tehran to suspend its uranium enrichment program.
While Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Iran afterward that the international community is united in the dispute and suggested that the Security Council actions would escalate should Iran remain recalcitrant, the comments of other envoys suggested otherwise.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the issue of sanctions was not discussed at the meeting and were not supported by Moscow. Russia on principle doesn't think sanctions can achieve a settlement, especially in the Middle East where there's so much going on, he said.
Lavrov's remarks were echoed by China's Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo, who called for a peaceful solution and added there was too much turmoil in the region. He urged the parties to use caution in the negotiations.
This issue is among the most difficult and complicated in today's world; it requires time, persistence and wisdom, and it can only be resolved through peaceful means, Dai said, adding his country would work together with the other sides.
In Vienna, Iran's chief representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, told the Associated Press that it is impossible to go back to suspension.
This enrichment matter is not reversible, Soltanieh said.
Thursday's meeting followed agreement Wednesday by the 15-member Security Council to ask the IAEA, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, to report back in 30 days on Iran's compliance with demands to stop enriching uranium.
On Wednesday, the Security Council unanimously adopted a presidential statement that called on Iran to freeze its experiments -- which ultimately could produce fuel for weapons -- within the next 30 days. But the statement came after weeks of tense negotiations, with Russia and China determined that it not contain language that could lead to sanctions or other punitive measures.
Iran denies it is building weapons and insists it only wants civilian nuclear power.
Speaking to reporters on her plane as she flew here, Rice said she planned to focus the discussion on the broader concerns about Iran's behavior in international affairs, including its links to terrorism and its support of radical Islamic groups in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. While the nuclear issue is paramount, she said that Iran's other actions must be considered.
I think it's more of an issue of the context in which we understand Iran's nuclear ambitions, Rice said. It is a troublesome regime for peace and stability in the Middle East.
At Russian insistence, the language stating that Iran was a threat to peace and security was removed from the Security Council statement. Russia has expressed concern that too much pressure on Iran might force it to decide to leave the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which would mean that international inspectors would no longer have access to its sites. But Rice appeared to almost relish that possibility.
If Iran makes that threat and carries through on it, then I think we'll have a better and clearer view of what Iran's intentions really are, Rice said. And so that's not a cost-free move by the Iranians given that they continue to claim that they want peaceful nuclear uses.
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov warned that Russia and China would not tolerate the use of force to resolve the dispute. As many of our European colleagues have said and as our Chinese friends have said many times, any ideas of resolving the matter by compulsion and force are extremely counterproductive and cannot be supported, Lavrov told the Russian news agency Interfax.
In addition to Rice and other U.S. officials, diplomats from Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany are participating in the meeting.